Automated Mine Neutralization Vehicle

Present mine neutralization vehicles like the AN/SLQ-48 and the AN/ASQ-232 are delivered by much larger manned vehicles into close proximity to the mine. This permits the mine neutralization mechanism itself to be much smaller and less expensive. An unmanned delivery vehicle, the Mine Neutralization Delivery UUV (MNDV)is envisioned, to deliver several small automated mine neutralization vehicles. Such a delivery vehicle would permit the neutralization vehicle themselves to meet the size (5" to 7" diameter) and cost ($10k to $25k) objectives by moving expensive navigation and transit propulsion capabilities into the delivery vehicle. The MNDV is a reusable UUV that is launched and recovered from a ship. One of the key attributes of the MNDV will be its ability to dock with a ship-deployed recovery mechanism. This proposal focuses on the final design, fabrication and testing of a docking drogue for demonstration of docking with an MNDY surrogate test vehicle.